Rape Law in Transition

Eshan Kumar Gupta

Rape Law in Transition

Author(s)	Mr. Eshan Kumar Gupta
Country	India
Abstract	This essay attempts a complete account of those rules as they stand in September 2026, and it is written at an awkward moment. On 1 July 2024 the Indian Penal Code, the Code of Criminal Procedure and the Indian Evidence Act gave way to the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita and the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam. The definition of rape survived almost intact as section 63 of the new Sanhita, and its punishment as section 64. But the new law did one thing of real consequence. In section 69 it created a separate offence of sexual intercourse by deceitful means, including a promise to marry made with no intention of keeping it. For two generations that conduct had been prosecuted as rape through section 90 of the Penal Code. It now has a home of its own, with a lighter sentence and a different procedural regime, and the courts are only beginning to mark where its boundary with rape lies. At the same time, every court in Uttar Pradesh is trying cases in which the act occurred before July 2024 and the complaint came after it. The old substantive law must therefore be applied through the new procedure and the new law of evidence. The evidence has changed as well. A case that once turned on a medico-legal certificate now turns on a DNA report, a chain-of-custody register and several hundred WhatsApp messages. The admissibility of those messages depends on a certificate that many investigating officers have never prepared. The essay follows a case from beginning to end. It starts with the question that must be answered before any other, namely which law governs. It then examines the elements of the offence, the concept of consent, and the false promise of marriage under both regimes. It turns next to investigation, to the recurring contests over delay, medical evidence and DNA, and to electronic evidence. It closes with bail, charge and quashing, the conduct of the trial, final arguments, and sentence and appeal. Throughout, the aim is to state the law as the courts have laid it down, to show how each side uses it, and to say plainly where questions remain open.
Keywords	Rape Law, Bhartiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, BNS, BSA, IPC, CRPC, POCSO, False Promise of Marriage.
Field	Sociology > Administration / Law / Management
Published In	Volume 8, Issue 5, September-October 2026
Published On	2026-09-29

View / Download PDF File

About IJFMR Fees & Payment Current Issue Publication Archive	Submit Research Paper Track Submission Status Publication Guidelines Publication Ethics Peer Review & Plagiarism	Join as a Reviewer Editors & Reviewers Reviewer Referral Program Get Reviewer Membership Certi.	Website/Journal Policies Usage Policy Content Policies Privacy Policy

Contact Us		+91-9687-828-838	editor@ijfmr.com

International Journal For Multidisciplinary Research

A Widely Indexed Open Access Peer Reviewed Multidisciplinary Bi-monthly Scholarly International Journal

Rape Law in Transition

Share this